Contact: Joshua Lallement
Email: CommunicationsDirector@LPColorado.org
Website: www.LPColorado.org
August 13, 2021
Our Freedoms are not up for debate by alleged “scholars”
Several nights ago, the totalitarian apologists in the mainstream media were able to find a collaborator in Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, in their haste to expand state power in the name of fear, and of course, to accomplish their partisan objectives of smearing “the other side” at all costs. This time the targets were Republicans who claimed to be defending libertarian principles in opposing mask and vaccine mandates. While we agree that these Republicans are not libertarians, opposing state ownership of our bodies in the form of these mandates is thoroughly libertarian and Professor Somin’s views are not, no matter what “scholarly” credentials he claims.
“Contrary to Professor Somin, rights and liberties are not weighed on some grand scale of convenience and discomfort, and it is entirely subjective what those factors are. While Somin claims a vaccine is mild compared to mask mandates, there is nothing at all mild about forcing a peaceful person to inject something into their body against their will. Nothing at all. We have a handy word for that if we were talking about non-consensual penetration of sexual organs rather than needles. His view is completely anti-liberty and not libertarian.” says Libertarian Party of Colorado State Chair Wayne Harlos.
The LPCO platform is clear: We oppose any government mandating or denying treatments or vaccines. Individuals have a presumption of health and should not have to prove they are healthy to avoid forced quarantine, isolation, or other restrictions of their rights and freedoms.
LPCO Secretary and Secretary of the Libertarian National Committee adds, “Your rights are not dependent on my fear. Or anyone else’s. The time has come for peaceful civil disobedience. Not all heroes wear capes. Or masks.”
# # #
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Joshua Lallement at CommunicationsDirector@LPColorado.org.
